Tamdan McCrory a hopeful for VH1 show "Pickup Artist 2"

UFC
welterweight and self-proclaimed geek Tamdan McCrory, a 21-year-old
fighter who defeated veteran Pete Spratt in his UFC debut, is in the
running for a spot on the cast of VH1’s reality dating show, “The
Pickup Artist 2.”

McCrory is currently soliciting online votes on the show’s casting website.

The
6-foot-4 Scorpio hopes to be one of eight applicants chosen to appear
on the reality show for an eight-week seminar and competition to learn
the ins and outs of the dating scene. The show tapes this summer and
debuts on VH1 later this year.

The eight-episode first season of
“The Pickup Artist” debuted in August 2007 and featured eight cast
members. They were trained in the art of the “pickup” by seduction
artist Mystery (Erik von Markovik) with help from wingmen J-Dog and
Matador.

Contestants competed in various challenges, which
usually required the men to pick up women in various spots around
Austin, Texas.

The show is currently in the fourth week of a
10-week online casting call. The winner of the show earns the title of
“Master Pick-Up Artist” and $50,000.

In his online profile, McCrory says the competition was tailor-made for him.

“I’m
extremely socially awkward and have lots of anxiety when it comes to
women,” he wrote. “I usually have to have a few drinks before I can
even start talking, and by that time, I just come off as buzzed idiot.

“I quess I have a lot to work on.”

In January MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported
that McCrory (8-1 MMA, 1-1 UFC) had put his UFC career on hold to
concentrate on an equally challenging venture: graduating college.

McCrory
is currently completing his senior year at The State University of New
York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland) to earn a degree in kinesiology with a
concentration in exercise science.

He plans to return to the UFC in the summer.

If
chosen for the show, McCrory wouldn’t be the first MMA fighter to
appear on a reality TV show. Fighters such as Tim Sylvia, Pete Spratt
and Josh Thomson have appeared on the show “Blind Date,” Ricco Rodriguez recently appeared on VH1’s “Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew,” and
MMAjunkie.com columnist Frank Trigg was a cast member on the VH1 show
“Kept.”

For more information, check out McCrory’s online profile (you can vote for him with the “Vote” button at the top-left of the page.)

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